Jeremy Corbyn hit back at critics today, refusing to apologise for being present for a ceremony at a Tunisian cemetery said to honour the masterminds of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.

The Labour leader acknowledged he was present for the ceremony and laid a wreath during his visit.

And he was photographed holding a wreath next to the graves marking the alleged members of Black September, who were behind the slaying of 11 Israeli athletes.

But he today insisted the tribute he personally paid were in memory of a 1985 Israeli air raid on the PLO offices in the city - regardless of where in the cemetery the wreath was placed.

And he refused to apologise for being present for the ceremony.

Mr Corbyn was not happy to be asked about the wreath-laying (Image: PA)

“I was there when the wreathes were laid. That is pretty obvious. I witnessed many other people laying many wreaths," he said.

"I laid one wreath along with many other people, as I have said, in memory of all those who died in the awful attack in 1985, which, as I keep repeating, was condemned by the whole world."

He added: “I'm not apologising for being there at all. I went to a conference to try and promote peace in the Middle East."

He was asked: "was that wreath not laid by the graves of those who were killed in the Mossad strike in Paris in ‘92?” - referring to members of the Black September group including Bseiso.

He replied: “It was laid on the grave of all those who died. Look I totally condemned what happened in Munich in 1972. Appalling. Totally wrong by any stretch of the imagination. I condemn all killing. All killing is wrong.”

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Mr Corbyn came under attack from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after it emerged that he was present at an event at the Palestinian Martyrs Cemetery in Tunisia in 2014.

The Labour leader also refused to apologise for attending the ceremony despite calls for him to do so from Jewish MP Luciana Berger and the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Marie van der Zyl, said: "After days of being evasive, Jeremy Corbyn has now admitted attending a memorial event for the terrorist murders of unarmed athletes. How can you say he is not involved?" she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

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"In 1972, these are unarmed people who were attending the Olympics, they were savagely mutilated and murdered. There is no reason Jeremy Corbyn should not apologise to the widows and to the victims for this terrible massacre."

Luciana Berger said: "Being 'present' is the same as being involved. When I attend a memorial, my presence alone, whether I lay a wreath or not, demonstrates my association & support. There can also never be a “fitting memorial” for terrorists.

"Where is the apology?"

Meanwhile the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) group said it was pulling out of discussions with the party’s group on anti-Semitism.

In a letter to members of the party’s ruling body, chairman Ivor Caplin accused Jeremy Corbyn’s team of taking a “deliberately misleading approach” and “further inflaming tensions rather than tempering them.”